Spent 5 fantastic days in this beautiful house on outskirts of Riga city . Thanks to Diga for all her help in advising us where to go during our time in Riga . Lovely room , very quiet area of town and that great breakfast to start our day . Homestay is a 20 min tram ride from city and tram stop is less than a ten minute walk from the house ( number 11 , cost 0.70 Lats per way , card for ten trips 4.75 Lats ) . Thanks again for a really fantastic stay Diga .

I agree with all the positive things said in the other reviews and would like to add some of my own. We felt welcome from the first phone call with Ric when we rang enquiring about vacancies. After we booked, Diga sent useful information about their home and about Riga. Diga arranged a taxi from the airport. The taxi driver's speed allowed us to catch the end of the world cup and a welcome drink.
I can't thank Diga, Ric and their family enough for their wonderful hospitality throughout our stay. I've never been made to feel so welcome in a home before. Their beautiful wooden house is situated in quiet, safe Mezaparks, about a 15 min ride on the nearby tram into central Riga. Our room was spacious, comfortable and clean, with a cool breeze from the large windows during a July heatwave. Several well-fed cats also enjoy their hospitality, along with a friendly old dog, Zara who was suffering from the heat and spent her time looking for a cool spot to lie down and hang out with her feline buddies. Ric and Diga make big delicious breakfasts while chatting to their guests, answering sightseeing questions and giving tips on what to see and do in the area (including brochures and maps).
A highlight of our trip was an entertaining guided walking tour given by Ric of the Mezaparks area (see photos). If you are interested in history or architecture, I would recommend going on the tour. Ric also kindly brought us to see some abandoned military fortifications at the seaside - something we wouldn't have found in a guidebook or by accident. I was treated to a trip into the countryside for a picnic washed down by Latvian beer followed by a Russian cigarette (great combination, and yes the house is smoke-free). On the rare occasions when we dragged ourselved away from the Old Town to arrive back at a reasonable hour, we were invited to join Ric and Diga who were having a cool beer and a chat with the other guests in the garden.
Warning - Riga is 2 hours ahead of London, not 1 hour as I thought. I realised this after I casually arrived 1 hour late for breakfast on the first morning. Apologies!
My wife and I were sad to leave after a delightful 8 days and both hope to return to Riga and to Homestay.

Apart from the gate bell malfunctioning when we arrived, our stay was entirely perfect. We felt immediately like we were staying with friends. It was a 37deg summers day and it didn't take Ric long to thrust a cold complimentary beer into my hands and engage in some witty banter. This place is so relaxed, the front door stays open all day, Sarah the dog curls up on the steps and keeps a friendly eye on you as you walk up to your room. Did I say room? Our rooms were as cheerful as Diga's smile, and as large as you might expect in a purpose built log mansion, set in a tree lined street with other architectural marvels.
After phoning my wife on the other side of the bed in the morning (well they were rather large), we went downstairs to a cooked breakfast if we wanted, delightful meats and cheeses, but I couldn't get past Ric's scrumtios pancakes .... as many as I could eat really. What else to say? A perfect location .... walk to a huge nearby park and lake, then the tram stop is at the end of the street to take you into the heart of Riga in only about 20 mins.
We'll be back!!!

We stayed with Ric and Diga at their lovely home on our honeymoon vacation across eastern Europe. After the soulless, charmless, joyless hotel we had in Tallinn, this was just what the doctor ordered!

All of the other reviews are pretty much spot on, so I won't elaborate too much. You'll be staying in the home of Ric and Diga, two very young-at-heart grandparents with a gorgeous house in a suburb of Riga, Latvia. Ric is a Kiwi, Diga is Latvian, they're both wonderful, warm, and funny. Ric will cook you a gourmet breakfast in a cast-iron skillet and take you on a stroll around their neighborhood to look at the fantastic architecture and extol the virtue of modern real estate development practices. Diga will help you figure out where to go for dinner and which beach is best and arrange a cab to the airport for you and generally make you feel right at home.

And yes, this is a HOME. It's not a B&B of the standard kind. It's definitely not a hotel. It's their house, decorated with their art, filled with pictures of their family and friends, etc., and you are very much their guest. Think of a stay with your favorite aunt and uncle or family friends, the jovial, creative ones who are always cracking jokes and have the comfiest furniture and the loveliest yard and are always busy with one hundred projects but never too busy to have you over and make you feel welcome. Then transport that stay to Latvia. It's pretty much like that.

Things you should know:
-there's a dog and a couple of cats. I'm allergic to cats but the room was well-ventilated and my claritin did the trick, so there were no big issues. The dog is a gentle old sweetie who sleeps all day in the driveway.
-the house is at the end of a tram line into the city, it takes about 20 minutes and runs frequently. Single rides are about $1 each way, you can get multi-ride passes for less. A cab was 7-8 Lats (about $15) late night from the old town after some haggling. Diga was outraged at this price, which apparently was inflated for us tourists. There is a passable restaurant nearby, a lovely lake and small beach within 100 yards, and a gorgeous park...and not much else. If you want hustle and bustle, go elsewhere.
-You're a guest in a guesthouse. If you don't know what that means, or want daily linen changes, or a full service concierge, or room service, or absolute privacy, don't stay here.
-The neighborhood is very safe. You need a key to get in their gate, but the actual front door to the house stays open at night to let the breeze in. If you're the kind of neurotic traveler who sees thieves and rapists behind every bush, stay in a fortress somewhere instead of here.
-Our room (the only one on the ground floor) was lovely and huge, with a massive bed, antique furniture, a view of the garden, and a bathroom that was mostly ours. No air-conditioner, but we didn't need it at night and were off exploring most of the day.